Help, selling screen on craigslist and getting unusual offers

[ricgnzlzcr]

Hi. Im posting my Gateway 21 inch widescreen on craigslist of sale since I'm mostly using my powerbook on the sofa. The post I made is very popular, but I've received a lot of email asking to send me a money order through some company and then having my screen picked up by a courier service. One of the emails looks like this:

Hello
I am grateful you reply my question and i am ready to make the immediate payment which is via Alertpay Money Order and for the payment to commence all i need is your payment address so the payment can be made and once the payment has been approved by the Money Oder Company you will receive a confirmation notification mail from Alertpay for you to be sure that i have paid for the item and after the confirmation has been recieved,the shipment will take pl ace which will be handled by my self cuz i have an account with a shipping company(Fedex Courier Service)by sending you fedex prepaid slips.(Note):-You might have recieved some offers from different people reg arding your ite m,but i will like to be the highest bidder,so for this reason i am offering $550 for the item, hope you will accept my offer.So kindly send me your payment address for the payment to be posted immediately to your contact address.

Is this reliable? I just expected someone to pick it up from my house, but I have gotten a few emails asking to send it through the shipping company. I just don't want to be scammed. Thank you

 

[Deepdale]

Is this reliable? I just expected someone to pick it up from my house, but I have gotten a few emails asking to send it through the shipping company. I just don't want to be scammed. Thank you

That entire message you received gives me pause. I cannot comment with absolute certainly on the scam aspect, but be careful -- very careful.

 

[mkrishnan]

That entire message you received gives me pause. I cannot comment with absolute certainly on the scam aspect, but be careful -- very careful.

Sounds very dubious to me....

 

[ricgnzlzcr]

That's exactly what I thought. It just doesn't sound right. I have received 3 messages like this. I'm just going to request pickup only. Thanks a lot guys.

 

[wkw]

that is most definitely a scam

 

[Deepdale]

Thanks a lot guys.

You're welcome. When a message is received and it looks and sounds like a 10-year old was behind it, Rule # 1 is to just move on quickly to those offers that at least rise to the level deserving careful consideration. No guarantees in this world, but trying to substantially lower the risk involves screening out those replies that are riddled with multiple misspellings, etc. Good luck with your sale.

 

[chosenwolf]

These are scam e-mails. Trust me on this one =)

Any e-mail from outside the U.S. stating they will pay you extra to cover shipping, and they will arrange shipping is 99.9% a scam e-mail. They send these out to everyone, hoping to catch just one sucker

 

[ricgnzlzcr]

These are scam e-mails. Trust me on this one =)

Any e-mail from outside the U.S. stating they will pay you extra to cover shipping, and they will arrange shipping is 99.9% a scam e-mail. They send these out to everyone, hoping to catch just one sucker

Haha, thanks. Now I won't be a sucker!

 

[GarrettNolan]

Check out the IP from the sender with Whois, that will tell you where it originates from. If its not in the us dont do it. As simple as that when it comes to CL and selling stuff.

 

[chris y.]

if its craigslist its usually local so i usually meet up with the buyers of my items in person...having some random money order service involved and a courier pickup sounds very fishy to me...

 

[GoCubsGo]

if its craigslist its usually local so i usually meet up with the buyers of my items in person...having some random money order service involved and a courier pickup sounds very fishy to me...

Yeah I think it's called ebay or something.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Also, any email assuring you of how secure the payment method is, is a scam.
There is, of course, no such thing as an Alertpay (or Western Union, or FedEx, or USPS) escrow service which ensures you will get the money (or the goods, in the opposite direction) or independently verifies that the buyer/seller is good for the money.

What you will get is a forged money order and a phoney email.

 

[slooksterPSV]

Yup, CanadaRAM is right. When I was trying to sell my PBG3, I got tons of emails saying: we'll send you 4000 for it, you take out the $300 you were asking for then send what's left back to me. Different emails like that. Look that one up here: http://www.scamdex.com/ and see what it says, if its on there. Or any other strange emails you may have received.

BTW this is alertpay: http://www.alertpay.com/

 

[CanadaRAM]

BTW this is alertpay: http://www.alertpay.com/

The point is that the buyers says that the agency (USPS, AlertPay whoever) has some foolproof way of emailing you confirmation that the payment is good or that the product can now be released. I don't know AlertPay at all, but the post office absolutely does not do this. And it's WAY to easy to fake an email that looks like it comes from a payment centre. It is all to distract you and make you less wary that the original premise of sending something valuable to someone a long way away who you don't know and can't confirm their identity is a BAD IDEA.

 

[slooksterPSV]

The point is that the buyers says that the agency (USPS, AlertPay whoever) has some foolproof way of emailing you confirmation that the payment is good or that the product can now be released. I don't know AlertPay at all, but the post office absolutely does not do this. And it's WAY to easy to fake an email that looks like it comes from a payment centre. It is all to distract you and make you less wary that the original premise of sending something valuable to someone a long way away who you don't know and can't confirm their identity is a BAD IDEA.

Exactly.

EDIT: There are too many variables with online transactions, so even though Alertpay.com may look and may be legit, there could be hidden functions that allows the sender to not send the receiver any money.

 

[ricgnzlzcr]

Yea. I have gotten more emails offering me more money and that their courrier service would pick up the item. I guess you just really have to be careful aboout what you do online.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Insist on a face to face sale for cash only.

 

[slooksterPSV]

Insist on a face to face sale for cash only.

That's what I did, then they can make sure that the product is what they want and you can make sure they are comfortable with it.

 

[Mord]

anyone who offers a large amount "to make sure he's the highest bidder" or whatever is a scammer, also i'd avoid any payment method you have not heard of.

 

[killuminati]

I wouldn't do business with anyone that says they will pay you via "money odor".

 

[kkl1978]

I posted an item on craig's list a few days ago for a Home Karaoke Kit, I only want $20.00. I got an e-mail asking if I still had it, and then I got this response today.

Thanks for your quick response...I will like to make the quick payment of this item of yours through AlertPay Online.....So all i will be needing for the payment to proceed is your full
name,address and phone number...So i will offer you $30 so that you can remove the posting as soon as possible...
Moreso, the shipping cost will be handled by me which you will not be charge a penny for that as soon as the payment has been confirmed, i will email you the fedex shipping label and invoice you will paste on the package which you will have the procedure to follow above it.
Get back to me as soon as you get this message so that i can order AlertPay to proceed with the payment....
Cheers
It didn't sound right, I've never heard of alertpay. I checked out their website, and then started reading the scam alerts they have on craig's list. Which led me to this forum. After reading the first thread, it sounded very similar to the one I received. I sent the person an e-mail stating that they must pick the item up and pay cash only.
Thank goodness I found this thread!!
Thanks!

 

[darkwolf919]

It's a scam

For sure it's a scam. Unless the user is out there sending emails that look exactly alike to other users. Take this one that I just received ten minutes ago for example. I had no idea this site existed until i googled the email, and actually it was so close a match, this thread on this forum popped up. Amazingly alike, and amazingly unnerving.

I am very grateful and impressed you reply my question and i am ready to make the immediate payment which is via AlertPay Money Order and for the payment to commence all i need is your payment address and your full email address so the payment can be made and once the payment has been approved by the Alertpay Money Oder Company you will receive a confirmation notification mail from AlertPay for you to be sure that i have paid for the item and after the confirmation has been recieved,the shipment will take place which will be handled by my self cuz i have an account with a shipping company(Fedex Courier Service)by sending you fedex prepaid slips.(Note):
-You might have recieved some offers from different people reg arding your item,but i will like to be the highest bidder,so for this reason i am offering $200 for the item hope you will accept my offer.So kindly send me your payment address for the payment to be posted immediately to your contact address.Thanks

 

[furrina]

I wouldn't do business with anyone that says they will pay you via "money odor".

 

[Allotriophagy]

I wouldn't do business with anyone that says they will pay you via "money odor".

Yes, something about this smells fishy.